Date: Fri 10-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

DEP-Appleblossom-Lane-water

Full Text:

Appleblossom Lane Water Project Awaits DEP Approval

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The town is awaiting approval from the state Department of Environmental

Protection (DEP) to start work on extending a public water supply into the

Appleblossom Lane neighborhood to resolve groundwater contamination problems.

John Whitten, senior field representative for Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the

town's consulting engineers on the water line project, said Thursday the

project is under review by staffers in DEP's water resources unit.

If DEP approves hiring Consolidated Construction of East Hartford for the

$1.24 million public works project, the town will then give the firm a

go-ahead to start work, Mr Whitten said. Mr Whitten also has overseen the

construction of the town's new sanitary sewer system.

Because the DEP is largely paying for the water line project, it has review

rights on the work.

Water lines will be installed to resolve health hazards stemming from

contaminated domestic water wells tainted with industrial solvents.

The estimated construction time on the project is six months, so the later the

project begins, the later it will conclude.

The town has installed stormwater drainage structures in the neighborhood in

preparation for the water line installation.

United Water's water service will be extended to homes on Appleblossom Lane,

Dogwood Terrace, and a section of Cedar Hill Road through the installation of

new water mains and individual service lines. Water from existing water mains

will be extended via new individual service lines to properties on South Main

Street, Prospect Drive, and Pecks Lane.

Wells now in use will be capped to prevent their future use.

The water line extension project is a joint effort of the town's Department of

Public Works and Health Department. After the line extension is complete, the

town will maintain it for one year after which it will become the property of

United Water, the privately owned local public water utility company.

Ninety-three properties in the residential Appleblossom Lane area will be

connected to the United Water public water supply system as a health

precaution. Those properties either have domestic water wells contaminated

with industrial solvents or have wells at the risk of becoming contaminated.

The contamination problem stems from a past spill or spills of the industrial

solvent tetrachloroethylene, also known as PCE, in the Appleblossom Lane area.

PCE also is known as perc, perclene, and perchlor. The chemical is used as an

industrial degreasing compound and as a solvent in the dry cleaning of

fabrics.

The health effects of drinking water with low levels of PCE are not known.

Results of animal studies conducted with high amounts of PCE show that PCE can

cause liver and kidney damage and cause liver and kidney cancers. PCE may

reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen or cancer-causing agent,

according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.